…yet there is madness in it.

Re: Miss Method at the Movies III: Rise of the Superheroes

Welcome back to a new year, movie fans. As usual, over the University of Arnor’s holiday break, Miss Method once again put valuable DVD rental money back into the economy by watching as many of the movies as possible that she had missed out on. Superhero movies were a big theme this year in part because Marvel Comics has lit on a genius premise–make movies of their characters and tie those films altogether so fans will watch one and be led to to the others. Well, it worked on me certainly.

Excellent

Burke & Hare: Saw this movie at the video rental shop and was blown away by what the jacket calls a dark satire, but what I call comic film noir. Simon Pegg and Andy Serkis play William Burke and William Hare, two Irish immigrants attempting to scratch a living in early 19th century Edinborough. They light upon a lucrative money making scheme selling cadavers to anatomy schools, but run into problem–a shortage of “product”–which they solve by committing murders. You wouldn’t think that the sordid tale of two “resurrection men” would be comedy gold, but the script plays it straight and the humor isn’t exaggerated. When Burke and Hare chase a barrel containing the body of one of their dead boarders through the steep streets of Edinborough, for example, it just seems like yet another screw-up in the lives of these two losers. Like any good comedy, the movie also has a deeper theme: how the upper classes prey on the lower classes for their own ends and how capitalism is based on the suffering of the poor and the helpless.

The Avengers: Joss Whedon has written and made what may be the most perfect superhero movie ever and if there were any justice in the world, he would receive an Oscar for it. Everything works here–the plot is exciting, the characters well-executed, the fight sequences are cool, but don’t slow down the whole film. I run out of superlatives trying to describe it. Even if you think that you don’t like superhero movies, you’ll like this one.

Ice Age: Continental Drift: Our heroes, Manny the Mammoth, Diego the Sabertooth Tiger, and Sid the Sloth are cast adrift on a floating iceberg when the continents start to break up. Accompanied by Sid’s old granny, they must battle ice pirates commanded by the unpleasant Captain Gut–a ruthless monkey voiced by the excellent Peter Dinklage–in order to get back home.

Best Exotic Marigold Hotel: The cast list reads like a Who’s Who of British character actors and, honestly, can anything with Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, Bill Nighy, and Maggie Smith in it, really be bad? The storyline is about a group of retirees at a run down hotel in Jaipur and how it is never too late to re-invent yourself. Uplifting and charming.

War Horse: I wasn’t sure if I would like this “animal story” about a horse set in WWI Europe. Would it be too maudlin, too sappy? The answer is that the movie really is a meditation about WWI told through a series of sketches about the people Joey, the war horse, of the title comes in contact with. Just to reassure you animal lovers out there: no, the horse does not die, but bring some tissues anyway because you’ll be sniveling throughout the movie.

Good

Thor: Great performances from the cast and beautiful cinematography. Unfortunately, the movie is hampered by a jerky storyline that seems to lurch from scene to scene. Tom Hiddleston makes his breakout performance here as Loki, but everyone in the cast is superb. Chris Hemsworth (Thor) switches well between heroism and comedy and Kat Denning (Two Broke Girls) has a great turn as the sarcastic grad student assistant. Director Ken Brannagh does a fine audio commentary as well. I’m starting to believe that only Shakespearean actors should do commentaries.

ParaNorman: Claymation movie about Norman, a kid whose ability to see and talk to the dead, doesn’t endear him either to his family or his classmates. But when a witch’s ancient curse threatens his town only Norman and his raggle-taggle group of friends can save the day. Funny and charming, but with darker, more adult themes about bullying and forgiveness underneath. If you want proof that claymation is the cutting edge of cinema, just watch the Making of extras and be awed by the amount of work involving both old and new technologies that went into this film.

Captain America: The First Avenger: A well done, but predictable story about a 98 lb. weakling (Chris Evans) who becomes super soldier, Captain America, during WWII. Hugo Weaving has a charismatic turn as uber-Nazi, Red Skull, and Stan Tucci has a nice role as a refugee scientist.

Mirror, Mirror: A stylized fairy tale with good performances by most of the cast. Unfortunately, the central character of Snow White is incredibly passive and difficult to root for. Julia Roberts and Nathan Lane have a lot of fun as the evil Queen and her major domo respectively. The monster in the woods is authentically scary. Sean Bean is largely wasted in his cameo as the king.

Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows: Much better plotted than its predecessor, but the female roles are so marginalized and the homoerotic nature of Holmes/Watson relationship so played up that this film feels very misogynistic.

Kung Fu Panda 2: Po finds out that he is adopted and goes looking for the truth about his family. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it? Yet the whole film is so dark and serious that the humor seems out of place. I would not recommend it for young children. Gary Oldham gives a great, multi-layered performance as the villainous Lord Shen.

Dark Shadows: The cursed vampire, Barnabas Collins, awakens and finds himself in the 1970s. Discovering that his family fortunes have declined, he attempts to restore his family’s money and name. But Angelique, the witch he scorned centuries ago, has survived as well and is determined to destroy him. Directed by Tim Burton, the movie is what I would call a gothic comedy. While the movie works, the focus on humor means that the other themes of the series are ignored.

Beowulf: This is one of those movies where the format of the film–in this case, motion capture–really gets in the way of telling a great story. The actors are good and this re-telling of Beowulf by Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary is compelling, but the animated characters can’t help but look stilted and unreal. A combination of CGI and live action would have been a better fit for this movie.

Titus Andronicus: Julie Taymor has a fondness for stylized, surrealistic images that work on stage, but tend to slow down the action of the motion picture. This re-telling of Shakespeare’s revenge play is well done and well acted, but I could have done without the “artistic” touches. Anthony Hopkins stars in the title role and Jessica Lange is Tamora, Queen of the Goths.

Save Your Money

Snow White and the Huntsman: While the film is beautiful visually, the pacing is incredibly slow and the main characters are largely uninteresting. Although it is fashionable to criticize Kristen Stewart’s acting ability, she is no worse than her two male co-stars. To be fair, the plodding, shallow script and nauseating dialogue would try the ability of more experienced actors. The most interesting character in the film is Finn, the queen’s creepy brother, played by Sam Spruell. The usually reliable Charlize Theron gives a good performance as the damaged and mentally unbalanced Queen Ravenna, but her character doesn’t have much to do until the final third of the film. The other character actors have small roles and are kept even more in the background. Verdict: pass on by.

Hogfather: I had hoped for something more along the lines of Going Postal, but unfortunately this rendition of Terry Pratchett’s Christmas fable is extremely slow moving. The casting is good, but you lose interest about a third of the way through the film. Verdict: watch with the remote so you can fast forward when you just can’t bear the dragging pace any longer.

Iron Man 2: Mickey Rourke, who plays Ivan Vanko aka “Whiplash”, a Russian physicist/ex-con out for revenge on Tony Stark, is the best thing about this rambling sequel to the first Iron Man movie. Rourke has very little dialogue, but he plays Vanko with such a sinister intensity and wry humor that you find yourself sympathizing with him. Otherwise, the movie has good performances, but no clear direction and the plot wanders here, there, and everywhere. Verdict: Watch it for Rourke. Otherwise, skip this one with a clear conscience.